The Better Conflicts Audio Experience

2020 has been an incredibly challenging year. Necessity being the mother of invention saw us all adapt to new ways of working with both colleagues and clients alike.

As we move into 2021, what can we learn from this tumultuous year to ensure we effectively meet the challenges and opportunities of the next?

CEDR spoke to John Munton, Lauren McGuirl and Susanne Schuler about:

- The challenges they faced in their respective departments

The aim of this podcast is to pool together the expertise from CEDR's three distinct, but ultimately connected business units and to share some personal reflections and insight.

The extent to which you can effectively collaborate is what will determine how successful you are as an individual, team and organisation.

In this final episode of our Conflict Styles Podcast Series, we explore 'Collaborating'. Collaboration is a term which is both widely used but misunderstood with many people thinking it is the style they must aim for.

Like all styles, it is best used when fully understood and in the right context - not overused.

Often, compromising in conflict situations works.

However, there are times where you need to have the confidence and ability to go that extra mile and stress test relationships and ideas in order to arrive at more effective and sustainable solutions.

Susanne Schuler explores how people who tend to compromise by default can challenge themselves and move out of their comfort zone to address and get more out of really critical situations.

Prevalent in TV, film and politics, where the more negative aspects of this style are often glamorised or admired - bullish, steam-roller and borderline authoritarian tactics - 'Competing' is often misunderstood.

Just because you compete in conflict situations, doesn't automatically make you a bully.

Of course, some people can stray into this type of destructive behaviour.

Like with all styles, there are clear benefits to 'Competing' and dangers to overusing it.

If you yourself compete in conflict, we want to ensure you get the most out of your style, being able to advance your interests while maintaining relationships and work effectively with others.

Equally, if you work with competitors and want to understand how to collaborate with them, stepping into their shoes is a great place to start.

Can you think of a situation where you avoided having a difficult conversation with a colleague, client or friend?

How did that make you feel?

What impact has that had on the relationship - both in the short and long term?

Do you wish you had behaved differently and been more assertive and engaged?

If you avoid conflict or crucial conversations too often, we want to help you to become more conflict confident. In this podcast we look at the strengths and weaknesses of avoiding conflict but also how people can start to become more engaged with difficult or crucial situations.

Conceding to others, letting them have what they want and ignoring your own needs - so-called 'people-pleasing' - is a widely spread conflict behaviour.

If this is something you recognise in yourself, we want to help you to move from giving in to getting more.

Even if you aren't a natural accommodator, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of this style can help you to think about when to strategically deploy it to your advantage.

No one style is the 'best' and our experience tell us that the people who get the most out of conflict, are those who can adapt their approach to the situation and person they are facing.

To do that, you need to understand them all.

What are conflict styles? How do they impact how you handle difficult situations? Could you be more strategic when resolving conflict?

In Episode 1 of our Podcast Series on Conflict Styles, Susanne Schuler explores:

What are conflict styles?

In our final podcast before Christmas 2020, Phil answers a question he gets asked a lot.

It is not surprising that this question came up at this time of year when people are watching Christmas classics such as 'Die Hard', 'Lethal Weapon' and 'Taken'.

In this #askanegotiator episode, Philip tackles:

His answer may surprise you...

How well equipped are you to manage a crisis at your organisation?

We have all been facing the biggest crises for a generation - the COVID19 pandemic.

How well individuals and organisations manage a testing crisis period will determine their long term success and sustainability.

A crisis doesn't need to be as gargantuan as the one we are in at the moment. It can be an IT failure, inter-team conflict or at an individual level, a challenging personal problem.

The common mistake made during a crisis is to let it consume you to the detriment of everything else you are supposed to be and committed to delivering.

This is perhaps the inspiration for this week's #askanegotiator podcast:

"What particular skills would a Hostage and Crisis Negotiator bring to an organisation and its management team to enable them to remain focussed on the delivery of products and services to their customers?"

The lessons learnt from managing international hostage-takings or sieges can be powerfully applied to the business world as Philip discusses in the podcast.

He shares practical advice on crisis management both at an organisational and individual level that can immediately be put into action.

We hope you enjoy the podcast and as always, this series is shaped by you, our listeners. So if you have a question or topic you want Philip to tackle, send it over to the podcast host Ben here.

Crisis Decision Log article referred to in the podcast can be accessed here.

Is there no such thing as a bad question?

Well, maybe.

But, when we asked Philip Williams what was the one thing he believed to be true about negotiation, this was his answer:

"There is no such thing as a bad question.

Provided..."

What the caveat is, you'll have to listen to find out...